10 Odd Facts About the Presidents

As children, we learn about the Founding Fathers and all the men who have led our country in the fight for freedom. However, there are a few odd facts about our Presidents that not many people know due to the fact that they're either not taught in our schools or they're just trivial bits of information we've forgotten over the years. Here are just a few of those tidbits.

1.) George Washington was not the first President of the United States. He was the first President to lead our nation under the Constitution that we follow today, but there were actually 7 Presidents in office before Washington was elected. The first actual President of the United States was a man named John Hanson.

2.) President Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, one of which was named Sally Hemings. In recent years, it has been proven through DNA technology that Jefferson fathered at least one of Sally's children.

3.) Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th 1826, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

4.) Ulysses S. Grant is the only President to have legally changed his name. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but changed his name so he wouldn't have to enter into West Point with the initials H.U.G.

5.) Electricity was first added the White House during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison. Due to the fact that he received an electric shock from one of the light switches, he spent most of the rest of his Presidency sleeping with the lights on.

6.) Though President Theodore Roosevelt was one of the more flamboyant of all US Presidents, few people realize that he was the first President to visit a foreign country while in office and was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906.

7.) Vice Presidents were not part of the election process until 1804 when Congress passed the 12th Amendment. Before that time, Vice Presidents were placed in office from being the person with the 2nd most votes in the election.

8.) The idea that George Washington wore dentures made of wood is actually a myth. He had dentures made from animal teeth, ivory, lead, and even other human teeth.

9.) President Zachary Taylor never had any formal schooling, never voted in an election, and never had any political affiliations until he decided to run for President in the 1848 election.

10.) President William Howard Taft was the heaviest of all them all, though not the tallest. Taft weighted over 350 lbs. and had gotten stuck in the White House bathtub so many times he had to have a specially built one installed. He is also the first President to have a new invention at the White House called an "Automobile".